The Taiwan Relations Act gives the United States an important legal commitment to this vibrant democracy. The U.S. provides tangible security and stability to the Taiwan Straits which helps Taiwan interact with China on its own terms.
How did Taiwan rank in the Index of Economic Freedom? Click here to find out. Read More.
The United States is the provider of both tangi¬ble security and political stability to the Taiwan Strait. Read More.
America's strategic interests in Asia go hand in hand with democratic values. Not by accident, all of our formal security allies in Asia - Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand - are democracies. And events are trending further in this direction. Taiwan recently conducted its…
On December 22, 2011, Taiwan was nominated by the U.S. Department of State for inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program. Since 1986, the Visa Waiver Program has facilitated travel and tourism in the United States for individuals from friendly member nations, and security measures added since the program’s inception have…
Abstract: The failure of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (“Super Committee”) to come to agreement on reducing the federal deficit raises the real prospect of a total of $1 trillion in …
Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) visited Heritage to give the annual B.C. Lee lecture, focusing on the importance of American leadership in the Asia-Pacific region. After his speech, he sat down with us for a wide-ranging interview on free trade, Taiwan, the pitfalls of the Afghanistan withdrawal, and the implications of…
Abstract: Under the clear terms of the Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. is obligated to make available the hardware and services necessary for Taiwan's defense. This obligation is a critical component of U.S. policy in the Western Pacific, as it ensures that, in the…
As I write this column, my plane is taking off from Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport to bring me back home. It was a special visit to Taiwan - one that helped put many earlier visits into a larger perspective. My first visit to Taiwan occurred 40 years ago. The changes…
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld held a book event in Chicago recently. In answering a question about China, he assessed, "War in the Taiwan Straits could only happen as the result of a monumental diplomatic blunder.” He is probably right. The problem is, Obama’s Taiwan policy increases the probability of…
Abstract: On April 20, 2011, long-time “China hand” Frank Lavin addressed an audience at The Heritage Foundation on the future of U.S.–China relations. How will the U.S. economic turmoil affect the Chinese economy? What is the impact of…
U.S.–China military-to-military relations have a very rocky history over the past two decades. Mutual suspicion, as well as fluctuations in the broader U.S.–China relationship, has resulted in periods of relatively good relations alternating with nearly frozen military contacts. This week’s visit by General Chen Bingde of…
The U.S.–Taiwan relationship today is all but frozen, increasing the level of anxiety in Taiwan as it tries to cope with a rising China. One hears this anxiety in conversations with officials in Taipei and in the flurry of public exhortations recently offered by President Ma Ying-jeou concerning Taiwan’s defense…
The year 2008 marked the 30th anniversary of the beginning of market reforms in China -- and perhaps the third anniversary of their ending. Since the present Chinese leadership took power, market-oriented liberalization has been minor. And as such policies have wound down, they have been supplanted by renewed state intervention: price controls, the…
The global financial crisis has had a major impact on perceptions of American power and its relationships in Asia. Many of the perceptions are not founded on facts. Among the facts often overlooked: American companies invest far more abroad than does…
The Reagan Administration spent the first half of 1982 in increasingly tough negotiations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) over America's continuing arms sales to Taiwan following the 1979 shift of U.S. diplomatic relations to Beijing. The Carter Administration had insisted that, given congressional opinion, continuing limited arms sales to Taiwan was a political…
Millions of Americans are learning more than ever before about the terrible consequences of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, thanks to an incredibly sophisticated computer model made available to journalists by The Heritage Foundation's Center for Media and Public Policy. As a result, in recent days viewers of Fox News, CNN and ABC's This…
The long-awaited Department of Defense (DOD) annual report on Chinese military capabilities, required under the fiscal year (FY) 2000 National Defense Authorization Act, was finally released last week. Although an August publication means it is several months late, the report makes up for its tardiness by providing China analysts with…
Members of Congress are considering several bills designed to combat climate change. Chief among them is Senate bill 2191--America's Climate Security Act of 2007--spearheaded by Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA). This bill would set a limit on the emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide from the combustion of coal, oil, and…
The Bush Administration has often said it opposes attempts by either side-China or Taiwan-to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait area. This admonition, given by White House or State Department spokespersons, is almost always directed at statements from, or actions taken by, the government in Taipei. Apparently, China's yearly addition of 100 offensive…
Conventional wisdom holds that as long as the economy perks along, the people of Hong Kong will remain satisfied and non- or apolitical. This notion has been proved wrong time and again. Tens of thousands still gather each year to memorialize the massacres that took place at Tien An Men (ironically, the name means…
This year marks the 60th anniversary of beginning of the Korean War—a war that, recent events remind us, has yet to be resolved. One of the side effects of the North Korean invasion in 1950 was the creation of the Taiwan Straits issue in American policy…
A few days ago, the Associated Press quoted Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and White House Asia Adviser Jeffrey Bader telling ambassadors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that the Administration’s toughness regarding China’s claims in the South China Sea is…
Three key senior congressional staff members gathered last Thursday for an enlightening discussion in The Heritage...…
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Former Governor Jon Huntsman (R–UT) was at The Heritage Foundation this week answering policy questions. In his talk, he...…
During his confirmation hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mark Lippert, nominee for Assistant Secretary of...…
Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) visited Heritage this week to give the annual B.C. Lee lecture, focusing on the...…
Yesterday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R–FL) held the second hearing in the two-part...…
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe FACT ...…
At the end of a series of closed-door briefings and meetings with the congressional committees of jurisdiction—after...…
In an article entitled “China and US on Edge over Vote in Taiwan,” today’s Financial Times (FT) quotes a “senior US...…
Reports are now emerging that the Administration has decided to reject the sale of F–16 C/Ds to Taiwan, in advance of...…
Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center
Senior Research Fellow